Academic writing experiences and literacy development of engineering students at a South African university of technology.

Abstract

This study drew on the Cultural Capital Theory and the Academic Literacy Model to explore the academic writing and literacy development experiences of Engineering students at a selected university of technology in South Africa. The study sought to explore the literacy experiences of Engineering student participants over time to determine the efficacy of the knowledge and skills they acquired in relation to academic writing and literacy development. Three critical questions were posed: ● What are Engineering students’ experiences of academic writing and literacy development at the selected university of technology under study in KwaZulu-Natal Province? ● How do Engineering students experience academic writing and academic literacy support offered by the Academic Literacy and Language Support unit at the university of technology under study? ● Why do Engineering students experience academic writing and literacy development the way they do at the selected university of technology under study? Qualitative research methodologies were employed. This study was also underpinned by the interpretive paradigm which is characterised by the concern for the individual and the desire to understand the subjective world of human experience. Data were produced using in-depth semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that, although the participating students were underprepared to engage with academic writing at university level, there was improvement in their academic writing skills over time. The study contributes to knowledge of our understanding of how to improve the academic writing capabilities and literacy development of students, including those who come from rural and low socio-economic backgrounds and whose academic development is often retarded by limited cultural capital. The study further highlights the role of IsiZulu (the predominant language in Kwa-Zulu-Natal province) in the academic writing and literacy development of rural students whose first language is IsiZulu. The study also highlights the value of the selected theoretical framing and the methodological approaches that were employed as these contributed significantly to the outcomes as described in this thesis. The unique contribution of this study to the pool of knowledge and scholarly endeavour is the integrated approach that it proposes for embedding literacies within discipline-specific content at the institution of higher learning under study.